Abstract
Background and Introduction:Emigration of healthcare workers from developing countries is on the rise and there is an urgent need for policies that increase access to and continuity of healthcare. In this commentary, we highlight some of the negative impacts of emigration on maternal and child health and discuss whether team-based healthcare delivery could possibly mitigate the shortfall of maternal and child health professionals in developing countries.Methodology:We cross-examine the availability of supporting structures to implement team-based maternal and child healthcare delivery in developing countries. We briefly discuss three key supporting structures: culture of sharing, telecommunication, and inter-professional education. Supporting structures are examined at system, organizational and individual levels. We argue that the culture of sharing, limited barriers to inter-professional education and increasing access to telecommunication will be advantageous to implementing team-based healthcare delivery in developing countries.Conclusion and Global Health Implications:Although most developing countries may have notable supporting structures to implement team-based healthcare delivery, the effectiveness of such models in terms of cost, time and infrastructure in resource limited settings is still to be evaluated. Hence, we call on usual stakeholders, government, regulatory colleges and professional associations in countries with longstanding emigration of maternal and child healthcare workers to invest in establishing comprehensive models needed to guide the development, implementation and evaluation of team-based maternal and child healthcare delivery.
Highlights
We call on usual stakeholders, government, regulatory colleges and professional associations in countries with longstanding emigration of maternal and child healthcare workers to invest in establishing comprehensive models needed to guide the development, implementation and evaluation of team-based maternal and child healthcare delivery
In an era of global emigration, we sought to answer if team-based healthcare delivery with expanded scopes of practice for non-physician care providers can improve maternal, newborn and child health in developing countries.TheWorld Health Organization defines team-based practice in healthcare as occurring “when multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds work together with patients, families, caregivers and communities to deliver the highest quality of care”
From the onset we asked whether team-based healthcare delivery with non-physicians having expanded scopes of practice, could possibly mitigate the shortfall of health professionals in developing countries
Summary
Implications: most developing countries may have notable supporting structures to implement team-based healthcare delivery, the effectiveness of such models in terms of cost, time and infrastructure in resource limited settings is still to be evaluated.
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